Reviews tagging 'Death'

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

248 reviews

ladykatka's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

My favourite quote was when Marie-Loure asked "we are the good guys though? And her uncle responded "I hope so" because you often don't know until the war is over. 

Overall though I don't think I enjoyed this book, I kept flip-flopping between. I like it and I don't like it but in the end it was too long and the timelines going back and forth between present and past was a little confusing and hard to keep track of sometimes, especially because the book was sooooooo long. The ending was also really unsatisfying. I wish it had ended a lot sooner than it did. I feel like this could have been edited down by at least 200 pages. I was also quite upset by the unnecessary updates on some of the characters at the end. Finding out what happened to his sister in particular, yikes. I mean I understand that this is what happened in real life after the war and during the war. But I felt like it didn't add anything to this book. It was just unnecessary and upsetting.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Cancer, Rape, Death of parent, Murder, Death, Gun violence, and War

hmbrokaw's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I’m not sure how much this book sticks with me considering this was my second read and I couldn’t remember anything from the first read. But it was quite good

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Death

jamanji's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I enjoyed reading this book every step of the way. The writing is masterful and the author’s ability to manipulate the plot and intertwine two seemingly unrelated lives into one is remarkable.

**SPOILER ALERT**

I did not expect the ending, especially Werner’s death. it was surprising and abrupt that one of the main characters was killed in one simple sentence. The irony of his death at the hands of German machinery when he himself was a slave to German machinery was not lost on me. I did obviously hope for a happy ending for Marie and Werner (why didn’t he just take off his damn uniform), but I guess it’s more poetic this way.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Violence, Excrement, Sexual assault, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, War, Rape, Antisemitism, Forced institutionalization, Terminal illness, Murder, Kidnapping, Genocide, Death, and Cancer

naomiannerie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Drug use, Blood, Child death, Gun violence, War, Genocide, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

aestass's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Loved this book! San Malo really came alive and I enjoyed the slow build of multiple story lines. Marie is my favorite and I appreciate that the author chose to portray a blind character properly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Abandonment, and Death

gab_l23's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Death

Minor: Rape

kirchnerkd's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, and Death

Moderate: Abandonment and Bullying

Minor: Cancer and Death of parent

michellebelle4's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Blood, Physical abuse, Antisemitism, Violence, Xenophobia, Ableism, Gun violence, War, Body horror, Genocide, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, Rape, Vomit, Sexual violence, Child abuse, and Sexual assault

lazza's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I initially found it really hard to get into and initially confusing but once I got about 100 pages in it picked up and I enjoyed it a lot more

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, War, Religious bigotry, Violence, Terminal illness, and Cancer

Moderate: Antisemitism

ilana_pop's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

While I understand why the ending is the way that it is, it completely took me out of the story. Felt rather weak and really dragged the whole book down for me. I've yet to find a WW II novel that truly captivated me, that feels like a historical work. Also, feeling gutted we got so little Werner. Where I feel we really got to know Marie-Laure, I kept waiting to truly find out who Werner was. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, War, Death, Violence, and Gun violence